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Thursday, July 30, 2015

The winner for
this year’s Caine Prize is Zambian born writer Namwali Serpell. When she was
announced the winner at Oxford she took to the podium to announce that she
would be sharing the 10,000 British pound prize with the four other writers on
the shortlist. She claimed it was a “mutiny” in a move to challenge the prize
that pits African writers against each other in an “Idols” sort of way. There
are many levels on which I find her decision to share the prize and her reasons
behind that decision unhelpful to writers trying to make a
living on the continent.

What does this
“charitable” decision really say to the other shortlisted writers? If I was on
that shortlist, I would find this action undermining. It says in one swipe that
I am somehow less than Serpell. But those writers are not. They were
shortlisted because their stories were deemed to be excellent. After that it is
only the preference of the judges that chooses the winners, nothing more.
Serpell’s decision is much like the vile donor- recipient relationship that
places the recipient in a “less than” position and the donor in the magnanimous
position of the giver. If I was on that shortlist, I would not allow her to do
that to me, she has no right.

As for her
insistence that the Caine Prize is competitive, did she not know this the last
time she was shortlisted?That time when
she got a free, all expenses paid trip to London? If her position on this issue
was so strong, why did she not insist that her publisher not submit her story
for the prize, for any prize actually? Why not give her spot on the shortlist to someone else
when she heard she had made it? All of these questions point to one answer- her
“moral high ground” position is a false one.

And I wonder
where in this world is writing not a competitive business. What writing prize
is not competitive? Is it not integral to their existence? Why should that not
be the case for African writers?

She has submitted to literary magazines in the
United States that are competitive. She has won fellowships in America that are
competitive. Why did she not apply her moral position in those instances? Why
is it only applied to African writers? Why is it only “Idols” for writers when
it is the Caine Prize? Do African writers need a step-up? Some sort of affirmative action programme? Has
she decided that for us? Does this not, in the end, undermine all of us? Does
it not tell us that we are not as good as those off the continent which is the
reason competition should not be imposed on us?

Beyond this, Serpell
is an academic at a university in the United States earning a liveable income;
this is not the case for the majority of writers in Africa. Prizes such as the
Caine Prize are lifelines that buy writers time to write, time that they would
have otherwise had to use to make an income to survive. To give the money away
so flippantly reinforces the notion that writing is a hobby one does in one’s
free time, not something anyone should ever hope to do as a professional career,
not something they should be paid for. It reinforces notions many of us fight
against on a daily basis. That, for me, is particularly unforgivable.

I hear people
praising Ms Serpell’s actions, but I think they have not considered the
consequences of what she has done. What she has done is harmful to African
writers. She has once again taken African writers and told them that they are
not good enough to operate in the real writing world which is almost
exclusively about competition. It has also created a difficult position for the
next Caine winner, having to justify why she will decide to keep the money for
herself, as she should. Ms Serpell should keep her money and leave the
shortlisted writers to win their own.

(This column first appeared in my column It's All Write in the 29 July 2015 edition)

Wednesday, July 15, 2015

The
Maestro, The Magistrate and The Mathematician
is the second novel from Zimbabwean author Tendai Huchu. His first novel, The
Hairdresser of Harare was a big success, but his new book is something
all together different.

It is set in
Edinburgh Scotland and revolves around the lives of three Zimbabwean men trying
to make a new life there as immigrants. The Magistrate is an older man who left
his position in Zimbabwe as a respected magistrate to live in Scotland where
his wife works as a nurse. At the beginning of the book he is unemployed,
spending his days keeping their house clean and caring for their teenage
daughter. Later he is forced to take a job as a temporary nursing assistant in
a care home for the elderly. Both positions leave him feeling useless and lost.

The Maestro
works in a grocery store, at least at the beginning of the book, but then
slowly he loses touch with reality. He stops going to work, deciding he wants
to spend his time at home reading his books. But eventually even that is too
much and he leaves his home and moves about as a homeless person in Edinburgh
lost in his thoughts.

The
Mathematician is perhaps the most well-adjusted of the three, likely because he
comes from a wealthy family that cushions his life in Scotland. He is working
on his PhD in economics and spends most of his time with his girlfriend and his
flat mates.

The three
storylines might work well alone, but are made more by being woven expertly
into and through each other. The writing is beautiful, in places stunning. The
descriptions of Edinburgh are from the pen of someone who loves that city and
it can’t help but show through his words. There are many books about Africans
in the diaspora, many books that appear similar after a while, but not this
one. This one stands apart.

Within the
circle of African writers there is often the discussion about who do you write
for. There is the feeling that the authors who are most successful in Europe
and the United States are authors who write books not well suited to people in
their home countries and the reverse-books
that are accepted in their home countries are often not the type wanted by
overseas readers and publishers. This discussion and the resulting angst it
causes African writers is not to be taken lightly. Is it okay to write a book
for overseas eyes that discounts the local readers? And why must these issues
weigh heavier on African writers?

This book gets
the balance spot on in my opinion. Huchu’s Magistrate has a love for Zimbabwean
music and musicians. The writer does not stop and explain what would be readily
known by Zimbabwean readers, insulting their intelligence along the way. He
uses Shona freely throughout the novel, but does not weigh the narrative down
with clunky explanations. He seamlessly integrates these aspects of his character
and plot into the story with no apologies. The foreign reader will find their
way, just as the Zimbabwean reader will navigate the unknown landmarks of
Edinburgh. There is a respect for all readers here that I think is the way that
it should be. Huchu stands his ground in this debate. He will write as he wants
and I beg African writers to learn from him and do the same.

The other thing
that I appreciate about The Maestro, The Magistrate and The
Mathematicianis that it is
published by the independent Zimbabwean based ‘ama Books. Huchu’s first book
was critically acclaimed and translated into many languages, published all over
the world. He easily might have been grabbed up by overseas publishers, but
what that does is make them stronger at the expense of publishers on the continent.
Of course, many publishers on the continent do not approach the publishing
business with a global eye and concentrate on a very limited parochial
point-of-view that makes authors unwilling to stick with them as their careers
take off since it becomes difficult to make a proper living.

Some big name
authors can be published overseas but then withhold rights in certain areas
around the continent to allow local publishers to distribute the book. This can
assist the local publishing house.

But that is not what’s happening here. ‘ama
Books published this book. Now they will be the ones selling the rights to
foreign publishers to distribute the book in those countries. This is how local
publishers grow as trade publishers and begin to play real roles in the global
industry. ‘ama Books and Huchu must be congratulated for this. They both took
risks. Again they are showing us the new way of doing business in this harsh
publishing game on the continent.

(This column first appeared in the 3 July, 2015 issue of Mmegi in my column It's All Write)

Monday, July 13, 2015

Poetavango, the
poetry group in Maun, is one of the groups that operate under the motto- “If
not us than who?”. They don’t like the conditions that they live in, so they
get busy trying to create the world that they want and I seriously respect
that. This year they are taking another welcome step toward improving the
situation for writers in Botswana by running a short story competition in conjunction
with the Maun International Arts Festival.

In their press
release they identified the problem- “One
of the objectives of the Maun International Arts Festival 2015 is to promote
the literary arts, to give hope to writers who, throughout the years have been,
by and large, disgruntled by the conditions of the writing industry in
Botswana. Nascent writers are easily discouraged by the somehow
writer-unfriendly environment within which we live.” Then the group set out
to solve it- “The Maun International Arts
Festival seeks to promote the culture of reading and writing. As an initiative
for achieving this, the organisers, Poetavango Spoken Word Poetry are
introducing the first Poetavango Award for Short Fiction.The literary competition will focus only on
the short story form for fiction writers living in Botswana. It is hoped that
in the future, the competition will include awards for novels, poetry and
journalism.”.

The plan is to
publish the winning entries and a selection of the better submissions in an
anthology. This is a great opportunity for writers in the country and we should
all try to support them.

The
rules for the competition are:

·Only
writers living in Botswana can enter the competition (citizens or
non-citizens), 18 years old and above.

·Stories
must be set in existing places/locations of Botswana. Stories with non-existent
or international settings will be disqualified.

·Stories
must not have been previously published in any form, including online platforms
(websites, blogs or social media)

·Only
email submissions allowed. Stories must be submitted as a .doc or .docx
attachment, no PDF or any other format is allowed. Stories should not be pasted
in the body of the email either.

·The
deadline is July 30th 2015,
11:59pm CAT. Late entries will not be considered.

·Submissions
must bear the title of the story and name of writer. However, stories will be
judged anonymously with names removed.

·Writers
are allowed to use pseudonyms, but real names must be indicated in the body of
the email.

·Document
must be typed in Times New Roman, font size 12, 1.5 line spacing. Paragraphs
must be left-justified, ie, leave the right margin ragged. Titles must be
centered and bolded in same type as the body but font size 14. Name of the
writer should also be centered (size 12 and bolded) and immediately under the
title.

·In
the body of the email, write your names in full (even where pseudonyms are used
in the story, you need to provide real names here), address and contact details
and the word count of your story.

·By
entering the competition, the writer declares that the story is their original
work and grants Poetavango the permission to publish the work either in print
or digital platforms.

·Members
of the Poetavango Collective and their families are NOT allowed to enter the
competition; however, their work may be included in anthologies where
necessary.

·All
submissions will be acknowledged with a response from the receivers.
Shortlisted stories will be announced by August 30th while the
winners will be announced by September 15th.

·The
judges’ decision is final.

·The
Award Ceremony will take place on October 26th during the Maun
International Arts Festival ’15, in Maun, Botswana. Winners are expected to
attend this event.

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About Me

I'm Lauri Kubuitsile. I'm a full-time, award-winning writer living in Botswana. I have numerous published books for both kids and adults, across various genres, and my short stories have been published around the world.
I have won the Pan-African prize for children's writing, The Golden Baobab, twice. I won the Bessie Head Literature Award for short story, the 2007 AngloPlatinum Short Story Contest, and the Botswana's Department of Arts and Culture, 2007 Botswerere Award for Creative Writing. I was shortlisted for the 2011 Caine Prize.

NEWS!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!!! NEWS!!! NEWS!!!

- Lauri's book, Signed, The Secret Keeper (the second instalment of her Amogelang Sethunya series) is now out, published by Diamond Educational Publishers!!

-In the Spirit of McPhineas Lata and Other Stories is now available in print!!! It's published by Hands-On Books. Get it HERE. It is published as an ebook by HopeRoad- London. All stories in the collection are set in Botswana. Buy it HERE.

My Writing Successes

I have numerous published books, including three books from my Kate Gomolemo Detective series; The Fatal Payout (Macmillan 2005) , Murder for Profit (Pentagon 2008) and Anything for Money (Vivlia 2010). My children's book Mmele and the Magic Bones (Pentagon 2008) was short-listed for the African Writers Prize (UK) and has since been chosen as a set book for all primary schools in Botswana.

My book The Fatal Payout is a set work for all junior secondary school students in Botswana. Two of my books The Second Worst Thing (Oxford University Press) and The Curse of the Gold Coins (Vivlia) are CAPS approved in South African schoold for grade 7.

My short stories have won numerous prizes including first prize in the 2007 BTA/AngloPlatinum Short Story Contest, and twice winning highly commended in the Commonwealth Broadcasting Association Short Story Contest. I won the Golden Baobab Prize in both 2009 and 2010, first in the junior section and the following year the senior section. My stories can be found on four continents; online, in print literary and popular magazines, and in anthologies.

In 2005, I was among three writers short-listed for our national, biannual prize for creative writing the Orange/Botswerere Prize. In 2007, I took first position for the same prize. In 2011 I was short-listed for The Caine Prize.

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The Second Worst Thing

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SOME OF THE BOOKS BY LAURI KUBUITSILE

Below see some of the covers of Lauri's books.

Signed, Hopelessly in Love

YA book published by Tafelberg. Now available!! Click the book to BUY!

Curse of the Gold Coins

As if Leano doesn't have enough problems trying to solve the problem of school fees. Now she's caught up in solving a crime that took place a hundred years ago. She must vindicate her great, great grandmother and hopefully the curse of the gold coins will disappear. Now CAPS approved in South Africa for grade 7!